For most people, ‘doing’ the Great Wall means taking a tour from Beijing out to Badaling, rebuilt since the 1950s and boasting cable cars and a KFC. Or there’s Mutianyu, with hundreds of souvenir stalls and a toboggan run.

For a structure that clocks in at over 8,000km in length—and that’s just the Ming Dynasty section—nobody sees much of it at all.

Less than 100km is open to the public. The rest is old, broken and inaccessible, in a country that’s modern and networked.

But, as Sir Edmund Hillary said of Everest, and why he wished to climb it: “Because it is there”.

Well, the Great Wall is there, and I wished to climb it. Or at least, a bit of it that wasn’t in the guidebooks. Without dying.

But where to start? Through a combination of Google Earth and the Great Wall Forum, an English-language website for Wall nerds, I hit on a suitable site far from the well-trodden watchtowers around the capital, and procured a set of GPS coordinates.

Then, together with a friend, we rode the rails out to the industrial city of Tangshan, 180km east of Beijing, infamous for its polluting steel mills and a devastating earthquake.

The plan was to commandeer a taxi to drive us to our coordinates (point A), pay the driver to wait for us at another place (point B), then hike from A to B along the Wall and get home in time for supper. Easy.

The Ming generals built atop cliffs and mountains to utilize their natural defensive features, and soon enough we were driving along a new highway toward the Yan Mountains, a range that rises up from the Bohai Sea into a defensive barrier all the way to Beijing and beyond.

At least we hoped we were; we couldn’t see through the polluted haze.

A few days earlier I had been excitedly zooming over the mountains of Hebei Province in Google Earth like it was the opening credits of Game Of Thrones.

The reality, on arriving at our coordinates, was less inspiring.

The road had become a mud track so we’d elected to hike the rest of the way. But it stopped at a terrifyingly huge quarry, with no way to walk around it.

It shouldn’t have been there. It must take years to dig something this deep, even in China, yet it wasn’t on the satellite photos.

As luck would have it, a bemused truck driver pulled up, looked us over, lit a cigarette, and gave us a ride.

After skirting the rim of the enormous crater we explained to our good Samaritan that we were Great Wall hikers.

He mulled this over for a bit, then dropped us off beneath the dam-like foundations of a mountain highway. “Go in there, you’ll find it.”

Emerging through a dank drainage tunnel we were at last greeted by something vaguely appealing.

A dry creek tapered gently uphill, just as it had done on Google Earth. If we followed it for about 1km, according to my calculations, we’d meet the Wall.

Picking up the trace of a trail, we finally got a glimpse of watchtowers—a pair of inward-sloping stone pillboxes on the horizon.

Unfortunately, we lost the way just 15m from a tower, and it took half an hour to wrench our way through a patch of thick thorns.

50cm a minute and a thousand tiny cuts.

Grim as it sounds, all was forgotten when we finally climbed on to the Wall proper, hiked for a while and turned to marvel at our first stunning vista of the day.

The battlements, awash with autumnal reds and yellows, were worn and crumbling, snaking up hundreds of meters, impossibly steeply, to the ridgeline.

Even the lingering pollution lent the scene a sort of Middle Earth quality. It was incredible to fathom such an ancient structure here at all, surrounded by roads, highways, factories and cities, utterly forgotten and near impossible to get to.

That day we encountered only one other person, a man patiently foraging for mushrooms.

The steep section we were looking at I had known to avoid, thanks to Google Earth’s elevation profile feature—we were hiking in the opposite direction.

But that’s not to say our journey was easy.

At times the Wall gave way entirely to natural rock along a sheer cliff, with drops either side. Glorious, vertiginous, dangerous.

Combined with loose rubble and next to no access on or off the Wall (remember the thorns), it was no walk in the park.

The light was fading when at last we came to a notable roofed watchtower called Shenweilou (‘invincible might tower’). The sight of it from above was blessed relief; our taxi, the only car waiting in the parking lot, even more so.

Mission accomplished, more or less. Another 6km of Great Wall under the belt, only thousands more to go.

This lesser-known restored section of the Great Wall is called Baiyangyu (White Sheep Valley). If you have plans to hike it:

You’ll need a VPN to use Google Earth / Maps in China, but you can use Apple Maps without restriction.

Keep day hikes to under about 7km in length.

Have a ‘civilised’ end point to aim for where you can easily get picked up from or spend the night.

The Great Wall, however remote and neglected, is still a protected, technically private national monument. Do your bit; pick up other people’s trash, try to avoid disturbing loose rubble.

Watch out for those thorns.

Share your experience of hiking the Great Wall with #momentumtravel and send us in your images—the best ones will appear in a gallery here.

Share Your Photos

Upload your own travel photos and the best ones will appear on Momentum.

No comments yet

Quiz-summary

0 of 10 questions completed

Questions:

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Information

With thousands of breathtaking options on offer, deciding where to holiday in Indonesia can be hard work. That’s why we’ve come up with 10 simple questions to steer you towards your perfect island partner.

You have already completed the quiz before. Hence you can not start it again.

Quiz is loading...

You must sign in or sign up to start the quiz.

You have to finish following quiz, to start this quiz:

Results

Time has elapsed

Categories

Not categorized0%

Lombok

Best for: beaches

The beaches of Indonesia are the stuff of castaway fantasies. There are literally thousands to choose from, but the place that best combines extraordinary beauty with the convenience of easy transport links is Lombok – you can fly direct, or nip over on a fast boat from Bali.

There are beaches on the island for every occasion, but the standout for many visitors is Mawun. It goes without saying that Mawun has white sand and stunning, turquoise water, but the bonus here is the seclusion of an enclosed bay. The beach is rarely busy, and at “off-peak” times there’s a very real chance of having it all to yourself.

Another winner is Senggigi Beach, where can sit on the sand and watch the surfers do their stuff (or, if you’re so inclined, borrow a board and join in).

Jimbaran or Nusa Dua, Bali

Best for: children and teenagers

Older kids will love Jimbaran in Bali for its range of watersports. Close your eyes and try not to worry as you send them off parasailing, jet skiing, water skiing or bouncing along on a banana boat.

If you want to take it down a notch, there’s snorkeling and learning about turtle conservation.

If you’ve got younger kids, you might want to stay at a family-friendly resort to make use of the various kids clubs. (It’s your break, too, and it’s easier to relax by the pool knowing that your child is being professionally entertained in a purpose-built playroom.)

If you’re trying to cater for more than one age group, you might want to take a look at The Westin Resort in Nusa Dua, Bali. They have a “teen zone” packed with PlayStations and dedicated clubs for both toddlers and younger kids.

Ubud, Bali

Best for: wellness

If your holiday packing is pretty much sun cream and yoga pants, and you like to come back from time away cleansed and invigorated, Ubud is for you.

Ubud is Bali’s center for healing, and in fact the name of the area comes from Ubad, which means medicine. This is the place to head for the full menu of luxury spas, Ayurvedic treatments, acupuncture or panchakarma programs.

Ubud is also Bali’s cultural nexus, and you can easily fill your days with temples and art galleries, ceremonies and dancing, and great cuisine.

After all that, enjoy a hedonistic four-handed massage before settling into bed to re-read Eat, Pray, Love.

Kuta, Bali

Best for: partying

With a reputation for good times, busy, crowded Kuta in Bali draws a young, energetic crowd ready to party.

Days are spent swimming, shopping, sunbathing or just chilling. Nightlife ranges from places where you buy beer by the bucket to the kind of upscale establishments where the barman takes care not to bruise the gin in your martini.

It’s not the prettiest of places on the island, or the most authentically Balinese, but it has an appealingly brash, good-humored vibe all of its own.

If hardcore partying isn’t your thing, you’ll also find a few quieter, less high-octane places for watching sunset turn into sunrise.

Yogyakarta, Java

Best for: cultural experiences

As it’s the history, culture and ceremonies of a new place that thrill you, you’ll probably find Yogyakarta the perfect destination.

This is the city where Java began, a place that was a powerhouse in the 8th and 9th centuries, and an opportunity for modern visitors to enjoy fascinating Javanese arts and traditions at every turn.

Beyond the urban sprawl are two of Indonesia’s most astounding archaeological sites: Borobudur and Prambanan. The Mahayana Buddhist temple at Borobudur boasts nine stacked platforms, six square and three circular, topped by a central dome, while the UNESCO World Heritage-listed temple compounds at Prambanan makes for a stunning spectacle in the style of Cambodia’s Angkor Wat.

Thanks to Yogyakarta’s surprisingly mild climate, a bit of exploring won’t leave you exhausted. That’s good news as there’s still the Sultan’s Palace to see, local silversmiths to admire in action at Kotagede, and endless pavement stalls selling the must-try local specialty gudeg: a stew of jackfruits simmered in coconut cream and served with chicken, egg or tofu.

Jakarta, Java

Best for: urban buzz

Beaches are OK, but who wants to spend a couple of weeks just lying in the sun? If you find lazing around a recipe for boredom, then your best bet is Jakarta.

From the aromatic, old-fashioned streets of Chinatown to the crazy nightlife in North Jakarta, you really can have any experience you like in this city of 10 million people.

You’ll find haute couture in Plaza Indonesia and the Grand Indonesia shopping town, but bargain hunters will be in heaven in the wholesale textile malls of Tanah Abang.

For a Jakartan market with edge, head to Pasar Santa on Jalan Wolter Monginsidi. This was a conservative indoor market until 2014, when it was transformed by a group of young entrepreneurs who wanted to use it to showcase their start-up companies. Now Pasar Santa has a unique mix of style-conscious places to eat, vinyl record stores, vintage clothing shops and cool coffee lounges. We promise you’ll go for the shopping and stay for the people watching.

Lombok’s Gili islands

Best for: diving

The Gili islands off the northwestern coast of Lombok are famed for their fantastic diving. The conditions are rarely difficult, the current is near non-existent, and you’ll pretty much always have at least 20m of visibility for spotting the first-class marine life.

Advanced divers will enjoy the deeper reefs, which have vast areas of pristine coral, swathes of hard corals and brightly colored fans.

A speedboat from Lombok’s main beach resort of Senggigi gets you to the trio of islands in around 20 minutes.

Trawangan (which everyone refers to as Gili T) is the funkiest of the three with chic bars and cool restaurants. Gili Air is more traditional and Meno is the least developed.

In recent times the waters surrounding Lombok have been intently watched by conservationists, so turtles are a common sight once again. You may also come face-to-face with a manta ray, reef sharks or even the rare Mola mola – the heaviest bony fish in the world, capable of weighing more than 950kg.

Not desperate to swim rapidly away from a fish that weighs much the same as your car? Fear not: there are endless colorful, pleasingly small fish pottering about in the shallows, too.

Lampung, Sumatra

Best for: wildlife

Lampung is an easy hop from Jakarta—take a 40-minute flight, or a seven-hour bus trip, your call—and you’ll soon be surrounded by what the World Wildlife Fund has called ‘one of the planet’s most biologically outstanding habitats.’

Elephants inhabit the rainforest of the Way Kambas National Park, while Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park is home to Sumatran rhinos and tigers. The park is also famous for the many bird species that prefer foothill climates, as well as for several species of sea turtle that nest along its coastal zone.

While you’re in Sumatra it would be remiss not to give a few coins to help orangutans. There are now less than 700 in the wild, making them critically endangered. It feels unimaginable that orangutans share 97 percent of our DNA and yet could be extinct in 20 years.

The one piece of nature that you don’t want to see at its most magnificent is Mount Krakatoa. Happily dormant right now, the volcano holds the record for creating the loudest sound ever heard in modern history: its 1883 eruption was audible up to 3,000 miles away.

Nusa Dua, Bali

Best for: loved-up luxe

Many resorts in Indonesia are aimed at honeymooners, but the neatly groomed enclave of Nusa Dua in Bali turns the sense of seclusion and luxe up a notch.

Just 14km southeast of Kuta, it’s easy to get to, unlike some of Indonesia’s more remote beauty spots. (After all, nothing ruins a romantic holiday in paradise faster than three hours uncomfortably bouncing on a wooden speedboat.)

The beautifully quiet coastal stretch is home to an array of five-star resorts, fully mod-conned-up, with plenty of spas and options for candle-lit dinners on the beach.

There’s a reason that Bali is the most famous island in Indonesia. It’s because it’s easily the best all-rounder, with a beautiful hinterland of volcanic mountains and rice paddies and some pretty outstanding beaches. There are so many that you can even chose your preferred sand color—soft and white in the south; exotic volcanic black in the west.

The Kuta-Legian-Seminyak strip is an 8km sweep of golden sand that’s well known as a weekend hangout for visitors who’ve hopped over from Australia. Now, however, it’s increasing in appeal to other travelers drawn to chic restaurants and designer shops.

Hardcore divers will gravitate towards Malibu Point for glimpses of sharks, tuna and manta rays, while snorkelers will enjoy Crystal Bay, where the clearest water in the region offers visibility between 30-50m.

Honeymooning couples head toward the luxury of Nusa Dua, party people take on Kuta and parents simply find one of the many child-friendly resorts and hunker down while the kids clubs do all the work.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Answered

Review

Question 1 of 10

1. Question

What is your personal paradise?

Some proper quality time with a loved one

At least five minutes where the kids aren’t hitting each other

A butler, chilled towels and your own plunge pool

Being cast away on an idyllic beach

Correct

Incorrect

Question 2 of 10

2. Question

What’s on your 90s pop mix tape?

The 90s? Mix tape?

My Heart Will Go On, Waterfalls, anything by Boyz II Men

To be honest, I was always more of a jazz fan

Baby Got Back, Everlong, Smells Like Teen Spirit

Correct

Incorrect

Question 3 of 10

3. Question

Which of these most appeals to you?

Downward dog

Downing beer

Down-filled duvets

Down under the sea

Correct

Incorrect

Question 4 of 10

4. Question

After a holiday, is your camera filled with shots of:

Selfies in hotlist restaurants and bars

Various degrees of sunburn after leisurely beach days

Awe-inspiring ancient temples and monuments

Wild creatures you spent hours tracking on foot

Correct

Incorrect

Question 5 of 10

5. Question

If your friends planned a surprise for you, would you like it to be:

A big night out with drink and dancing aplenty

A quiet party over a BBQ in the back garden

Shopping!

Front-row tickets at the ballet or opera

Correct

Incorrect

Question 6 of 10

6. Question

Complete this sentence: “The buzz of a big city makes me feel…”

Alive!

Old!

Lost!

Confused!

Correct

Incorrect

Question 7 of 10

7. Question

A friend tells you they’ve spent the morning aligning their chakras. Do you…

Stifle a giggle

Swap meditation techniques

Outdo them with tales of the amazing reiki treatment you had last week

Wish you didn’t have kids in the house so you could indulge in some meditation too

Correct

Incorrect

Question 8 of 10

8. Question

When you’re sitting on your suitcase trying to squash it closed, is it because you’ve tried to squeeze in:

Your phone, iPad, laptop and other gadgets, plus all their chargers

Your youngest's oversized teddy that he refuses to go anywhere without

Wetsuit, snorkels and face mask

A few extra pairs of going-out shoes, “just in case”

Correct

Incorrect

Question 9 of 10

9. Question

The great outdoors is…

Awesome. Give me wellies and binoculars and I’m happy

Tiresome. It’s the boring bit between cities

An adventure. I don’t mind roughing it to get truly into the wild

Fine, as long as I've got sand between my toes

Correct

Incorrect

Question 10 of 10

10. Question

How do you feel about Finding Nemo?

It’s a stunning representation of life under the sea

I liked it until the kids made me watch it a thousand times

I’ve never seen it. Is it the one about a genie?

I see what you’re doing here. You want to know if I love diving. Just ask. I do!